BBL|07 Season Review: The All-Rounders

13 February 2018

The Hurricanes marched to the BBL Final for just the second time in BBL07, with the all-round exploits of the squad playing a crucial role. Now that the tournament has finished for another summer, we look back on the efforts of our all-rounders, with these four undoubtedly providing some of the highlights of the competition...

Jofra Archer

The Stats:

Batting:

Matches

Innings

Runs

Average

Not Outs

Strike Rate

Highest Score

12

6

40

40

5

137.93

25

Bowling/Fielding:

Wickets

Average

Economy Rate

Strike Rate

Best Bowling

Catches

17

21.90

7.88

17.4

3-15

5

Review:

One of the breakout stars of BBL|07, Archer first arrived in Tasmania as an unknown quantity and left as an international star. Archer sent fans into frenzy with a series of dynamic performances that showed off his genuine pace, athleticism and love for the contest.

Archer finished the tournament as the second highest wicket taker, and considering he never took more than three wickets in an innings, his campaign was a model of consistency for the Hurricanes. With some spectacular efforts in the field and a knack for taking wickets when his side needed them most, Archer emerged as a bona fide star and will remain a key figure in Tasmania after recently signing a new deal that keeps him in purple until at least the end of BBL|09.

BBL|07 Highlight:

Archer was a walking highlights reel across BBL|07, but perhaps the most iconic moment of the tournament came when he took a remarkably calm catch off his own bowling to dismiss the hard-hitting Ben Cutting at the 'Gabba.

Christian had arguably his best BBL campaign yet across BBL|07. Christian registered his highest runs tally, and highest wicket taking tally, finishing with the second most wickets for the Hurricanes, and the fourth most runs. Christian's 11 wickets places him as the equal fifth highest wicket taker of the tournament, while his explosive approach added the icing on top for several big Hurricanes totals, while also digging the side out of trouble when required.

If there were any questions as to whether Dan Christian is one of the world's most valuable T20 bowlers, they have been blown out of the water.

BBL|07 Highlight:

Like Jofra Archer, Christian provided many highlights across the duration of BBL|07, but it is hard to go past his efforts against the Perth Scorchers in the semi-final where he took four wickets and chipped in with a 37-run cameo to help the Canes set the highest total of the season.

After playing five matches across his last three BBL campaigns, Simon Milenko had a breakout BBL|07, playing nine matches and finishing with the competition’s highest strike rate.

Fresh off the back of taking a five-wicket haul for the Cricket Australia XI against England in November, Milenko showcased his ability with the bat across the tournament, scoring 110 runs and finishing unbeaten in four of his six innings.

With ball in hand Milenko only bowled four overs, with almost all of these coming at the very start of the innings, while he also took five catches across the tournament's duration, underlining his versatility and value as an all-round asset.

With an impressive arsenal of deft and powerful strokes, and the capacity to accelerate an innings with seemingly the flick of a switch, Milenko emerged as one of the Hurricanes' most valuable assets towards the business end of BBL|07- as evidenced by his monster strike rate of 171.88.

BBL|07 Highlight:

Milenko was highly impressive with his positive approach, with his swashbuckling 66 off 37 balls at the WACA one of the summer’s most entertaining innings. Coming in to bat in the 11th over with the Hurricanes in trouble at 4/68, Milenko batted with genuine freedom, striking four boundaries and six maximums for a maiden BBL half-century.

WATCH: Milenko magic at the WACA

D'Arcy Short

The Stats:

Batting:

Matches

Innings

Runs

Average

Not Outs

Strike Rate

Highest Score

50s

100s

11

11

572

57.20

1

148.57

122*

4

1

Bowling/Fielding:

Wickets

Average

Economy Rate

Strike Rate

Best Bowling

Catches

3

44.70

7.88

34

1-20

3

Review:

Despite not immediately being spoken about as an all-rounder, D'Arcy Short's efforts with bat and ball across BBL|07 proved crucial for the Hurricanes, with his well-documented explosiveness with bat in hand, and his contributions as part of a three-pronged spin attack with Cameron Boyce and Clive Rose playing a critical role in the Hurricanes surge to the final. Short broke the record for most runs in a single BBL tournament, registered the highest score in BBL history and scored the equal most 50+ scores across a BBL season.

After recently inking a new deal to remain a Hurricane until the end of BBL|10, Short has solidified his place as a fan favourite in Tasmania and will no doubt be a key player for both the Hurricanes and Australia moving forward.

BBL|07 Highlight:

How can you go past the highest score in BBL history? Short's breathtaking 122 not out against the Brisbane Heat cemented his place as the hottest property on the Australian cricketing landscape, particularly after falling agonisingly short of a maiden century with scores of 97 and 96 in two of his three innings prior to this ton.